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Pondering Frog
Bio
Philosophy, motivation, advice and maybe even sports analysis.
Stories (12/0)
And then we'll be okay
At the foot of the last mountain, sat the last village. And in the last village lived Tao. It was Tao's birthday. While he was working the corn, his friend Samuel shouted over him to come quick. Tao ran to the edge of the village where the "death barrier" was, and beyond the death barrier was his father, lying on the ground. Tao ran to his father. His father wasn't breathing. Tao dragged the old man back over the death barrier and the village doctor checked his father over.
By Pondering Frog21 days ago in Humans
How not to be boring
One of our great fears, which haunts us when we go out into the world and socialize with others, is that we may, in our hearts, be rather boring. But the good news, and a fundamental truth toom is that no one is ever truly boring. They're only in danger of coming across as such when they either fail to understand their deeper selves or don't dare or know how to communicate them to others. That there is simply no such thing as an inherently boring person or thing is one of the great lessons of art.
By Pondering Frog6 months ago in Humans
A secret to curiosity
Anhedonia, or a lack of interest in pretty much anything, is a common symptom of depression. It's also a social issue, emergent in the specialization and mechanization of any and every one thing. We go to school to learn how to do one thing really well. Any time spent doing anything else is pretty much a waste. We also accept a lot of things that we encounter day to day with no real interest. Like how does Wi-Fi actually work? And if you're really in need of an answer, just Google it, read it, mumble something like "oh" or "cool" and mentally get rid of it as quickly as possible unless it serves you in some specific way.
By Pondering Frog6 months ago in Motivation
The tragedy of getting old
You wake up one day, look in the mirror, and see a wrinkle. Maybe you have the epiphany that 8-year-old you would be having way more fun than old, grumpy you. You start referring to the torture of each passing year, not as growing up, but rather as getting old. It's a cruel punishment, to find yourself on this unstoppable meat machine to the grave, though the crime that deserves such torture is never revealed. Is it existing? To have the courage to get up each day with the full lucidity that all of this is approaching a rapid halt?
By Pondering Frog6 months ago in Humans
Advice to simple life
The psychologist Winnicott believed that those in childhood raised by depressed or abusive parents would tend to develop a hyper-compliant false self. They may learn to not ask for attention and will give up on being spontaneous. "The child gives up on having a spontaneous desiring self in order to act as the parent to his or her parents." What's the big deal with being spontaneous?
By Pondering Frog6 months ago in Humans
Being too logical in love
It seems odd at first to imagine that we might get angry, even maddened, by a partner because they were, in the course of a discussion, proving to be too reasonable and too logical. We are used to thinking highly of reason and logic. We are not normally enemies of evidence and rationality. How then could these ingredients become problematic in the course of love? But from close-up, considered with sufficient imagination, our suspicion can make a lot of sense.
By Pondering Frog6 months ago in Humans
Ego death
A common resolution to most human conflicts is the minimization or eradication of the self in some form. Anxious? Remember that you're not the center of the universe and that none of this really matters. Unsure of who you are? The self isn't constant so why try to find something that's not there. Relationship issues? Stop focusing on yourself and focus on your partner's needs.
By Pondering Frog6 months ago in Psyche
The desire to cease to exist
I think that a rarely discussed but commonly felt desire is to simply not exist. This should of course be distinguished from its far more violent and permanent cousin; an act that admittedly still holds tightly to this longing for nothingness. But the former sensation is far more vague. To not have to experience this anymore. To never have been born. To go to sleep forever. I feel it when I'm embarrassed or ashamed. House parties with strangers. Social rejection. Isolation.
By Pondering Frog6 months ago in Motivation
What am I worth?
Kant had a nice idea: "Humans have "an intrinsic worth, i.e. dignity," which makes them valuable' "above all price." We have inherent value. In fact, we have inherent value and this is the fundamental basis of all ethics. Isn't that nice? The idea that we all deserve basic human dignity? That's why we should respect others. That's why we should love ourselves. We are an end itself. Except it's hard not to feel like we're a means to an end sometimes.
By Pondering Frog6 months ago in Motivation
Loss of a loved one
Embedded within our short existence, I find nothing quite as cruel as the loss of a loved one. Whether it be a death, a divorce, a falling out, a breakup, or a gradual slipping away, we find ourselves unquestionably aware of the pain of absence, the despair of nothingness. To lose someone is to break a promise that the future, as you have so confidently defined it through the present, will continue unaltered.
By Pondering Frog6 months ago in Humans